Drawer securing apparatus



Feb. 6, 1968 w` R. BEYE DRAWER SECURING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 20, 1967 INVENTOR. WIL/ ARD R. BEYE QN @Fm Feb. 6, 1968 w. R. BEYE DRAWER SECURING APPARATUS 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Jan. 20, 1957 R 5, w A m A Pnt/w www mlw m4 m R. M m w 0 A 5. e VIL; FIL M l0, Rm/ .im M j 1 A M United States Patent iltice 3,367,732 Patented Feb. 6, 1968 3,367,732 DRAWER SECURING APPARATUS Willard R. Beye, San Diego, Calif., assigner to the United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy Filed Jan. 20, 1967, Ser. No. 610,696 9 Claims. (Cl. 312-320) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE The present invention relates to a drawer securing apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus which permits the positive securing of a drawer-chassis at any desired degree of extension from a cabinet for permitting inspection or repair of electronic modules mounted thereon. The invention utilizes a novel longitudinally extending rack assembly which, as successive sections are extended, automatically interlocks to provide a continuous rack. A spring-biased brake mechanism positioned to maintain a continuous longitudinal travel on the rack assembly is controlled by a -release linkage, which extends to the outside of the ca-binet, for allowing selective securing of the drawer-chassis at any position on the rack assembly.

The invention described herein may be manufactured and used by or for the Government of `the United States of America for governmental purposes without the payment of any royalties thereon or therefor.

Background of the invention The invention provides a reliable means for positively securing a cabinet drawer at any dgree of extension from the cabinet within the limits of a rack assembly. It is a standard practice in cabinets having extendable drawers to provide latches which tit into a predetermined plurality of notches provided on the drawers for securing the drawers at extended positions. The obvious disadvantage of such cabinets is that the drawer cannot be secured at any other positions except those expressly provided by the notches in the extended slide. Another disadvantage of present cabinets is that the person withdrawing the drawer must make a special effort to securely insert the latch mechanism into one of the holes to secure the drawer. Such cabinets are obviously unsuited for application where emergencies are likely to arise or where the operator cannot possibly divert his attention to the securing of the drawer itself. All of the prior drawer latch assemblies are suited only for light weight drawers, that is, they are unsuited for securing heavily loaded drawer-chassis. In addition, existing drawer latch assemblies do not incorporate a safety feature which automatically secures the drawer in place when the operator releases pressure on the drawer-chassis handle, whether by design or accident.

Therefore, it is a primary object of the invention to provide a braking mechanism for securing a drawer at a desired position of extension from the cabinet.

It is an additional object of the invention to provide a drawer extension apparatus which permits a continuous extension from the cabinet.

A further object is to provide a spring-biased braking mechanism which automatically engages to safely secure the drawer in place when the operator releases the drawer handle.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a drawer securing apparatus which is particularly adaptable to securing a heavily loaded drawer.

A broad object of the invention is to provide a drawer securing apparatus which is highly reliable and relatively simple in construction making the apparatus ideal for use under adverse conditions such as those found aboard ship.

These and other features of the invention will be readily understood from the following description when read with reference to the accompanying drawings in which: FIG. l is a perspective view of the cabinet showing one drawer-chassis extended and one drawer-chassis closed;

FIG. 2 is a side view of the drawer securing apparatus showing the rack assembly in the extended position with the brake mechanism disengaged;

FIG. 2a is a -sectional View showing Ithe relative positions of a rack section and actuation linkage taken along lines 2a-2a in FIG. 2;

FIG. 2b is a side View of the bidirectional cam;

FIG. 3 is a side view of the brake mechanism and rack assembly in the closed position with the brake mechanism engaged;

FIG. 3a is a sectional view of the drawer securing apparatus taken along line Srl- 3a in FIG. 3..

FIG. 4 is a top view of FIG. 3 as shown along line 4 4;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view of a portion of the brake mechanism shown along line 5-5 in FIG. 3.

Description of the preferred embodiment Referring now to the drawings, a cabinet 10 houses a pair of extendable drawer-chassis 12 and 13; these chassis are of suicient strength to mount a plurality of electronic modules weighing up to several hundred pounds, such modules not being shown in the drawing'. The chassis each include a top support 14 and a bottom support 15 and a pair of walls 16a and 16b. Within the structure of top support 14 and bottom support 15 are mounted supporting brackets, shown generally as numerals 8 and 9 (FIG. 3a), of the telescoping slide or the track and groove type for providing support for and enable free withdrawal of each drawer-chassis from the cabinet.

On each drawer-chassis a drawer handle 17a or 17b is disposed to impart a vertical or a downward motion to drawer latch linkage 18a and 13b to permit selective latching and unlatching of the respective drawer-chassis. The structure utilized to latch a drawer-chassis in the closed position, as shown by drawer-chassis 12, is not included in the scope of the instant invention. The latch linkage serves to raise and lower cross member 18 for releasing the drawer securing apparatus via lever arm 25 in a manner disclosed below.

The drawer securing apparatus, used to secure the drawer-chassis at a desired extension from the cabinet and not for support of the chassis, includes a first rack section 40 secured at one end to cabinet 10. A second rack section 41 is slidably carried by a drawer between a drawer guide 42 and bottom support portion 15a. The drawer guide has one end shaped as a bidirectional cam 42a having an upper and lower rounded camming surface 42h and 42e. Additional guiding support for rack section 41 is provided by bracket 43 which additionally furnishes a pivot support for L-shaped arm 27. The L-shaped arm is selectively pivotable through adjustable linkage 26 when the linkage is longitudinally displaced by the lever arm 25.

A means for releasably engaging the lirst rack section to the second rack section in the form of a transversely extending latch 47 is disposed at the innermost end of rack section 41. A latch detent 47a is enclosed wit-hin one end of rack section 41 for engaging a pair of grooves in latch 47 to retain the latch in either one of two positions. A camming knob 48 extends from the latch through an elongate slot 49 and is sized to t within bidirectional cam 42a to impart a transverse motion to latch 47 upon and Sti mounted in opposite ends of rack sections 40 and 41 insure tight connection between the rack sections when the latch iscammed outwardly to abut rack section 40. Bracket 43 is provided with a channel 43a which is sized to permit passage of camming knob 48 as the knob travels toward and from the bi-directional cam 42a. The bracket is additionally provided with an internal bore having a smaller threaded end containing a spring-biased bearing 33 extending into a larger portion of the bore.

The braking mechanism, lgenerally designated by the numeral 32, is carried on the bottom support 15 and projects through the top surface of the support. The mechanism includes a cap-shaped first-fixed braking member 37 provided with a frustum-shaped recess having a suitable brake liner. A second-fixed braking member 38, formed as a disk, is carried on the top surface o f support 15. A conical frustum-shaped, double-acting rotary braking member 36, having a first and a second rotary braking surface 36a and 361.5 shaped as a frustum and disk respectively, is positioned between the two fixed braking members and is securely affixed to a rotary shaft 34. The shaft extends downward through bottom support 15 and is supported by a spring-biased bearing 33 disposed at one end of a bore in bracket 43. A pinion gear 35 mounted on the shaft is provided with teeth which coincide with the teeth on rack sections 453-41 to impart a rotary motion to member 36 with respect to the first and second fixed braking members 37-38. The braking member 37 is supported by an engaging lever yoke 31 with braces 31a and push rods 28. The push rods interconnection with L-shaped arm 27 permits selective engaging and disengaging of the rotary braking member with the two fixed braking members by raising and lowering the lever arm 25. A yoke bias, engaging biasing-spring 29, tends to force the fixed members into engagement with the rotary braking member and must be of sufficient strength to overcome the opposed biasing effect of springbiased bearing 33 to facilitate engagement of surface 36h and braking member 38. In the preferred form and as a safety feature, biasing-spring 29 must be of suicient strength to prevent rotation of the rotary braking member 36 when upward pressure of the lever arm 25 has been released.

With drawer-chassis L.` entirely within t-he cabinet and secured therein, drawer chassis handle 17b is down and the drawer latch linkage has depressed lever arm 25. The brake mechanism assumes the appearance shown in FG. 3 with rotatable braking element 36 positively secured by the combined effect of the first and second fixed braking members 37 and 38 to prevent pinion gear 3S from rolling on rack section 40. Rack section 41 forcibly abuts stop nut 51 to prevent the chassis from overtravel into the cabinet. Upon forcibly raising the chassis drawer handle, the drawer latch linkage will raise lever arm Z5 to overcome the compressive strength of engaging biasing-spring 29. The cap-shaped first-fixed braking member is lifted away from double acting rotary braking member 36 and at the same time spring-biased bearing 33 will push upward to disengage rotary braking surface 36h fromsecond fixed braking member 38. The pinion gear is free to rotate permitting an outward motion of the drawer chassis. As the pinion gear travels outwardly to the end of rack section 40, the opposed hook elements 49 and 5ft engage and cause rack section 41 to stop its outwardly motion along with the chassis. At the same time, camming knob 4S is withdrawn from the bottom of bidirectional cam 42a and is brought to bear against the lower rounded camming surface 42C forcing latch 47 upward to forcibly abut rack section 40 to insure a tight coextensive connection between the first and second rack section. During the interconnection of the two rack sections the pinion gear transfers from section 41 to section 42 in a continuous motion due -to the contiguous arrangement of the teeth on the two rack sections. Rotation of the pinion gear can be made to stop at any time during the withdrawal of the chassis from the cabinet by merely lowering the chassis drawer handle since, through the coaction of elements 25-29, lowering the handle forces the fixed braking members to engage the rotary braking member. In this manner the chassis can be made to stop at any position on the two rack sections to facilitate inspection or repair work by a technician.

To close the drawer chassis the lever arm 25 is raised to release the first fixed braking member from the rotary braking member and the rotary braking member from the second fixed braking member to permit free rotation of the pinion gear for longitudinal travel on the connected rack sections. Camming knob 48 enters the bidirectional cam 42a, bears against upper rounded surface 42h, and is forced downward to release the latch 47 to permit a continuous longitudinal motion of the chassis on the rack sections. Again, as in withdrawing the chassis from the cabinet, the handle may be depressed at any time to engage the brake mechanism for stopping rotation of the pinion gear to prevent further longitudinal travel of the drawer chassis.

As mentioned above, it is desirable to have the compressive force of yoke bias, engaging biasing-spring 29, of such magnitude that if the handle is accidentally released that the engaging spring will pull the brake mechanism closed to prevent further rotation of the pinion gear. This feature is especially desirable from a safety standpoint since an inspecting or repairing personnel may accidentally lose his grip on the drawer -handle and the heavily loaded, unsecured drawer could produce injury to the individual or damage to the modules. The two rack sections automatically interlock permit the drawer chassis to be completely extended to the cabinet exterior to facilitate complete inspection and repair of electronic modules mounted thereon. A drawer securing apparatus constructed in accordance with the invention can be made quite rugged and will withstand loads of relatively high magnitude. Construction of non-corrosive materials make the apparatus desirable wherever great reliability and ruggedness are required.

Various modifications can be made within the scope of one skilled in the art, it being understood that this invention is not to be limited to the specific construction and arrangements of the parts set forth except insofar as such limitations are included in the claims.

What is claimed is:

l. An apparatus for securing a drawer extended from a cabinet comprising:

a rack assembly secured to said cabinet;

a brake mechanism carried by said drawer including,

a rotary shaft,

a pinion gear mounted on said shaft and disposed to permit longitudinal travel on said rack assembly,

a first fixed braking member secured to said drawer,

and

a rotary braking member affixed to said shaft; and

means for reciproeally engaging said rotary braking member and said first fixed braking member to selectively secure said drawer at a desired extension from said cabinet.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

said means for reciprocally engaging includes,

a yoke bias,

an engaging yoke biased by said yoke bias to engage said first fixed braking member to said rotary braking member to inhibit rotation of said pinion gear, and

a release linkage extending to the drawer exterior to permit selective release of said rotary braking member.

3. An apparatus according to claim 2 wherein:

said brake mechanism further includes;

a second fixed braking member being affixed to said drawer, said engaging yoke being biased to engage said second fixed braking member to said rotary braking member to prevent rotation of said pinion gear.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 wherein:

said braking mechanism further includes,

a shaft bias disposed to separate said second fixed braking member and said rotary braking member when said release linkage transmits a force that overcomes said yoke bias.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 wherein:

said rack assembly includes;

a first rack section secured to said cabinet,

a second rack section juxtaposedly disposed with said rst rack section and longitudinally extendible therefrom, and

means for releasably connecting said irst rack section to said second rack section when longitudinally eX- tended; and

said pinion gear is positioned to permit continuous longitudinal travel on said first and second rack sections.

6. An apparatus according to claim 5` further including:

a camming means carried on said drawer and wherein;

said means for releasably connecting includes,

a transverse latch having a projection sized to be guided by said camming means to connect said rst and second rack sections as said pinion gear travels from said first rack section to said second rack section. 2

7. An apparatus according to claim 6 wherein: said camming means and said projection cooperate to release the connection between said first rack section and said second rack section when said pinion gear travels from said second rack section to said first rack section.

8. An apparatus according to claim 7 wherein: said means for releasably connecting further includes, a pair of projecting elements mounted one on each of said Iirst and second rack sections and disposed to be in an abutting relationship when said second rack section is extended. 9. An apparatus according to claim- 5 further including: a stop means mounted on said rack assembly for limiting drawer travel Within the cabinet.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS Re. 25,243 9/1962 Kobitter S12-333 597,186 1/1898 Hunter 312-331 1,902,795 3/1933 Wolters S12-331 2,174,181 9/1939 Rand 312F331 2,655,422 10/1953 Gussack 312-333 2,728,626 12/1955 Gussack 312--333 5 JAMES T. McCALL, Primary Examiner. 

